A Touchpoint is any way a crafter comes into contact and experiences or interacts with your business.

Why are Touchpoints important?

Your brand message creates expectations. Your content, logos, patterns and communication style all work together to create an experience. It defines who you are, how you conduct business, and what makes you different from other designers.

You're branding is a promise — a promise that must be kept. Crafters have the expectation that you will fulfill the promise of your brand message.

Crafters expect you to deliver a consistent message on every platform you use to engage and promote. Consistency is one of the most important factors in creating a craft/brand experience.

Each touchpoint should enhance the message of your business and provide crafters an incentive to engage with you and purchase from you. Your touchpoints should build trust.

Your brand promise doesn’t mean much if crafters don’t believe it. That’s why you're branding has to be supported by reasons-to-believe. Testimonials are the most used and most trusted forms of reasons-to-believe. Here’s an example of one of mine.

The most successful designers are the ones that can create true value through their content and designs, build a relationship with their customers and give them an experience that make them irreplaceable.

Where are Crafters Touching you?

To find out where your audience is touching you, make a list of all the places your customers might come into contact with your business.

Because there are so many ways for crafters to experience your brand, figuring out all of your touchpoints may seem daunting. To make the task more manageable, I give you more than 50 touchpoints in DESIGN YOUR BRAND. Here are the crucial six:

Social Media

Your Website

Your Patterns

Emails and Newsletters

Every comment you make

Every message you send

Knowing where crafters come into contact with you is called Touchpoint Mapping. Mapping shows you what touchpoints work, or don’t work, and what do to about it, giving you the chance to improve the experience crafters are having when they come in contact with our business.

Where’s your most valuable Touchpoint?

Take a look at your website, social media and email analytics to see where crafters are ‘touching’ your business the most. My most valuable touchpoint is Pinterest. I get more traffic and purchases by far from Pinterest. Facebook is second and my Email list is third. I’d like my email list to be second so I’m working on a strategy to increase it.

Because I know my touchpoints and how they affect my business, I can use the information to see what needs my attention and improve the brand experience of my subscribers.

How to make the most of your Touchpoints:

Improving your brand or craft experience at every touchpoint is a good way to build a good relationship and create loyalty with your audience. Any touchpoint failure can put customer loyalty at risk and provide an opening for competitors.

Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your Touchpoints:

Be Authentic:Don’t try to be something you’re not. Make sure that you’re positioning your business according to the message you’re sending and the value you’re offering.

Be Different:Being generic and trying to attract every crafter doesn’t work.You want to stand out from other designers. Find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and use it to differentiate yourself.

Be Consistent:Consistency across all touchpoints is crucial. It provides instant recognition and crafters immediately know what kind of experience to expect.

Your Audience is everything

Your target audience is at the very core of your business. They come to you because you give them the unique crafting experience they’ve been looking for.

Everywhere crafters ‘touch’ your business, they should be able to expect the same quality and value your brand message promises them.

What’s awesome about this is that you don’t have to have an elaborate brand experience to be successful, you only need an authentic message, a consistent presence, a target audience and designs and products that complement your brand identity.

If you need help, DESIGN YOUR BRAND is the ultimate self-guiding branding workbook for Pattern Designers. Get yours by clicking HERE and build a Pattern Design Business that attracts, engages and converts.

Sticks & String,Lori

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